Among these quarterback greats, Peyton Manning fared the best at age 36. Photo illustration showing wine barrels in a cellar. The names of NFL quarterbacks, their teams, years and team records are written on the barrels.

Nobody in the history of the NFL has ever been a better quarterback at age 36 than Peyton Manning. Brett Favre? Nope. Steve Young? No, sir. Johnny Unitas? Please.

The combination of victories and passing numbers posted during Manning’s first season with the Broncos were unprecedented for a high-mileage pro quarterback. But know what’s even scarier about Manning?

“I think he can keep getting better,” John Elway said.

You mean to tell me next season Manning is capable of matching a performance that made him an all-pro in 2012?

“There’s no question,” Elway said.

As Elway stood in the doorway of the team’s locker room Monday, it was obvious the playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens still stung the architect of this city’s football renaissance. But knowing Elway believes all great NFL teams start with the quarterback, I asked if Denver can truly expect a 37-year-old Manning to be competitive with Aaron Rodgers, Matt Ryan or any QB in the league next season.

“No question,” Elway told me.

Manning won 13 games for Denver. He threw 37 touchdown passes. His QB rating was 105.8, the second-highest mark in a brilliant 15-season career, all of it spent with Indianapolis until the Colts cut Manning.

Elway, however, believes Denver’s veteran quarterback can be as good or better in 2013. And the reason might surprise you.

“Knowing Peyton now compared to how I knew him when he first got to Denver, I realize how much tougher this transition really was for him, because of the type of person he is,” Elway said.

Pull back the curtain on an MVP-worthy performance, and there was a mess Manning would rather not anybody see. He’s an obsessive stickler for detail. As a result, his adjustment to the Broncos was more difficult than Manning made it look when he would drop a pass perfectly in the hands of Demaryius Thomas on game day.

The legend of Elway was built on the improbable comeback. The Drive. He laughed at chaos. No. 7 was a quarterback with a powerful hose for an arm and a fireman’s unflappable composure. When the building was burning, Elway walked in. Put out the fire. And nobody even saw Elway sweat.

In maybe 1,000 different ways, Manning is the anti-Elway. Both have Hall of Fame talent. Elway already has been enshrined in Canton, Ohio. There’s no doubt Manning will get there. But they have taken vastly different routes.

“For him, the picture of playing quarterback is so much bigger. He looks at so many different things. Everybody’s different, but as I look at Peyton now, I realize the transition to a new team had to be huge for him,” Elway said.

Manning has the vision to see a safety tip off coverage in a twitch of a leg, or detect a scratch no bigger than your thumbnail on a Buick from 1,000 feet away. No. 18 sweats the big stuff. He sweats the small stuff. From a new team to a new town, every unfamiliar route made Manning uncomfortable until he mastered it.

“I’m not saying it’s wrong. Everybody’s different,” Elway said. “But he likes to know every detail. He doesn’t like that building falling down around him. He wants to know every brick in the building. That’s his personality. He wants to know everything that’s going on. And if he doesn’t know it, he doesn’t feel as comfortable and he’s not as confident.”

After four neck surgeries, Manning seems to have made peace with how his body functions. His Denver uniform took time to break in, the same as any guy’s favorite pair of jeans.

Arguably no 37-year-old NFL quarterback has been better than Y.A. Tittle was way back in 1963, when he led the New York Giants to the league championship game, only to fall short against the Chicago Bears. So there’s the goal for Manning. And you know he will pursue perfection as close to 24/7 as is humanly possible.

When Manning recently revealed he stuck his throwing hand in a freezing tank to simulate playing football in Denver during January, it seemed quirky. But he does everything for a reason. “Next year, the Super Bowl is in New York,” Manning said.

It is all the more amazing Manning threw for 4,659 yards for the Broncos, if you know him as Elway now does.

Why? Because you know there were at least 10,000 questions the ever-obsessive Manning had about adapting to Denver.

“A lot of questions got answered for him this season. And he didn’t have the answers to those questions before he started here,” Elway said. “Now, there’s a lot of ways we can help him to make this team better. But he’ll come back a lot more comfortable.”

The bottom line: It took time, but Manning finally feels at home in Denver.

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